Francisco Caffaro sat on the bench, towel covering his head, shoulders shaking uncontrollably. His face was hidden by the towel and his big hands, but it was clear that tears were seeping from his eyes. Teammates tried to console him, but Caffaro kept his head down.
The 7’1” center had been on the floor a moment ago. He exited it after missing a pair of easy layups on consecutive possessions.
Sitting on the bench, Caffaro was the image of despondency. His breakdown was tough to watch. And yet, the raw emotion literally pouring out of him told you all you needed to know about his character. You could see, with heartbreaking clarity, just how much the game meant to him.
Caffaro ended the game with 0 points and 6 rebounds. He went 0-5 from the field and, frankly, looked completely overmatched against Duke’s vaunted roster. Some will call him “soft” for shedding tears. But his energy and passion were, as always, unmatched.
In that moment on the bench, he was a perfect reflection of why Virginia was able to match Duke blow-for-blow. The Hoos, though far less talented than their opponents from Durham, fought desperately to maintain a foothold in the game, and nearly used it to claw their way to victory.
The eventual 65-61 loss was costly for Virginia’s NCAA Tournament hopes. But the way it came about was demonstrative of how much the Hoos have progressed since the early-season losses to James Madison and Navy.
Big individual performances
Kihei Clark’s first three was a pleasant surprise. His second caused arms to lift in the air and shouts of glee to burst forth. His third, a pull-up in transition, asked that you exchange stupefied glances with your watching partners. At this point, Kihei was oozing confidence.
But wait. We’re not done. Kihei’s fourth three sent JPJ into waves of delight. His fifth blew the roof off the building and set a career high for threes made in a game. His sixth and final, which came from Ty Jerome-land, was simply unbelievable. At this point, the score read: Kihei 18, Duke 17.
Kihei finished with 25 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. His points tally was a career high, and his assists got him over the 500-mark for his career.
Kihei wasn’t alone, of course. Jayden Gardner continued a hot streak with a sterling performance that ended in 16 points and 4 rebounds. He made a number of big jumpers in the game’s latter stages to keep Virginia in it. Gardner was also part of a collective effort that held Paolo Banchero to 8 points on 2-13 shooting.
Perhaps the best defensive effort of the night came from Reece Beekman, who displayed for the nth time why he should be ACC (if not national) Defensive Player of the Year. Beekman was the third and final Wahoo in double-figures scoring, with 11 points, 5 assists and a pair of steals.
The only other Virginia players to get on the scoresheet were Armaan Franklin, with 7 points, and Kadin Shedrick, with 2 points.
Duke executed its gameplan
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, in his final game at JPJ, drew up a simple yet effective gameplan.
Aware of Virginia’s three-point shooting woes, Krzyzewski decided to pack it in on defense and force Virginia to make outside shots. For the most part, the Duke defenders never stepped outside the arc once they had settled in on defense.
That strategy appeared to be a mistake when Kihei began his hailstorm of threes. But true to form, Virginia hit only 2 of its 8 second-half three-point attempts. They couldn’t spark anything inside, scoring 20 points in the paint… a drop of 32 from the 52 paint points they mustered in the first game against Duke.
Krzyzewski and his coaching staff were less of a factor on the other end of the court. Duke won largely by virtue of a completely unexpected performance from Jeremy Roach. Roach, a reliable but never incredible asset for Duke, scored a career-high 15 points and hit three threes. AJ Griffin matched Roach’s output from beyond the arc, hitting big shots down the stretch.
Duke did make a concerted effort to drive to the rim more. The Blue Devils managed a couple times to slip through Virginia’s defenses as easily as a hockey puck sliding across ice. Tony Bennett wasn’t exactly out-coached, but Coach K did enough to lower the volume of the “Tony Bennett is better than Coach K” argument.
Virginia can win the ACC Tournament
This is a weak ACC; we’ve always known that. And this is a Virginia team that, as Jay Bilas noted on the ESPN call, “looks like an NCAA Tournament team.” It might not have been the case a few weeks ago, but now it’s clear as day that Virginia can win the ACC Tournament.
The Hoos may not need to, of course. Wins in the final two games of the regular season, plus an ACC title game appearance, could be enough to get Virginia over the hump. The selection committee likes hot teams, and another four or five wins would certainly be enough to earn Virginia that designation.
But it’s better not to leave these things to chance, and Virginia can avoid a tense wait on Selection Sunday by cutting down the nets in Brooklyn.
That will be difficult without a double bye. For Virginia to get that essential pass to the quarterfinals, it will have to win its final two games and hope either Miami or North Carolina goes 1-2 over its last three.
Winning three games in three days is far easier than winning four games in four days. Either way, Virginia’s performance against Duke was further evidence that it can win the ACC Tournament.
Virginia is back in action on Saturday, with a home game against Florida State. The game will tip at 4 pm EST and air on ESPN2.
Image – Virginia Athletics